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Author Notes:There's this dessert that has taken Philadelphia by storm..its a Salted Caramel Butterscotch Budino. Chef Marcie Turney, who is a genius, makes it. As soon as you taste it you know that you will wake up in the middle of the night with a mad desire to have just one more bite! It's like god in dessert form, and heretic that I am, I am riffing off Marcie's fabulosity with this budino in a jar with the flavor of a Snickers bar, because Snicker's bars are delicious in their own way.

These are perfect for middle of the night eating in bed, if you indulge in such behavior, especially if you use the mason jars with lids, keeps everything nice and tidy till morning. - Aliwaks —Aliwaks

Food52 Review: The Snicker's Jar Budino perfectly layers the delightful flavors of a Snicker's bar with everyone's favorite, pudding! I would sub in unsalted butter as using salted butter I found made the budino a tiny bit on the salty side. As noted in the head note, this is the ideal treat to curl up on the couch with or sneak a few bites of at midnight. —rebecca_mongrain

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Serves 4

Nougat Budino

2
tablespoons Honey

1/2
cup packed light brown sugar

2
teaspoons Kosher Salt

1/4
cup water

2 1/2
cups Half & Half

1
large egg

2
egg yolks

3
tablespoons Cornstarch

1
teaspoon vanilla extract or vanilla paste or vanilla powder (which is what I used today)

1/2
cup finely chopped toasted hazelnuts or peanuts

1/2
cup graham cracker crumbs

2
tablespoons unsalted butter

1/2
cup cajeta or dulce du leche, I use prepared cajeta because I like the tang, you can make your own or use what you like

1/2 cup
dark chocolate ganache

In a saucepan, whisk together honey, sugar water & salt

Bring to a boil, over medium flame stirring occasionally.. lower to a simmer, and simmer for about 5 minutes till it thickens and darkens... keep your eye on it.

Remove from heat and pour in half and half, whisking as you go.

In a separate heat proof bowl, whisk together eggs, egg yolks, and cornstarch

Add the half & half mixture to the eggs in a Slow steady stream, whisking as you go, just like you were making a mayonnaise

Strain the custard through a fine mesh sieve back into the sauce pan, over medium flame and start whisking

Keep whisking, don't stop to answer the phone or feed the cat, its going to seem like it will never ever get thick and then it will, quickly, just when your wrist gets tired and you start to wonder if you did something wrong it will bubble and thicken like a little pool of lava.

Remove from heat, you can set the sauce pan in a bowl of ice, but you don't have to, you can also strain it again till is silken, but you don't have to

Melt butter in a saute pan and add nuts & crumbs, saute them until they are toasty and fragrant...this also happens rather fast

Assembly: add a spoonful (tablespoon or so) of nut/crumb mixture, then fill jar half way with cooled custard, then add a dollop of cajeta then top with more custard, top the whole thing off with a spoonful of dark chocolate ganache & sprinkle with a few grains of fleur du sel

Let cool in fridge for at least 2 hours, you can serve with a dollop of creme fraiche or very lightly sweetened whipped cream and a flurry of remaining nut/crumb mixture

Dark Chocolate Ganache

1/2
cup Chopped Dark Chocolate or Chocolate Chips

1/4
cup half & half

1
tablespoon Butter

1
pinch kosher salt

Bring Half & Half, Butter & Salt to a simmer

Pour over chocolate, whisking as you go till smooth and pourable. It will thicken as it cools. You will have leftover ganache, it makes great hot chocolate , whisked into some hot milk or coffee...slather some on bread with a drizzle of olive oil and a bit of fleur du sel, dip apple & pretzels in to it...use as filling for cake...